


My brother is no Freak

by ColhanTheDeviant



Series: Early Days [24]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Brotherly Love, Bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-03
Updated: 2006-12-03
Packaged: 2018-01-09 06:39:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1142710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColhanTheDeviant/pseuds/ColhanTheDeviant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An incident in the streets of Fuchia Villege leaves Ace to comfort his younger brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My brother is no Freak

My brother is no Freak

Ace walked into the house still trying to calm himself down since his brother was still upset about what had just happened. He put the bags of groceries on the table in the kitchen and tossed his orange hat on the near by chair. As he began putting things away what looked like a bag with legs wearing sandals walked into the kitchen. Luffy who was a bit too little to be carrying such a big bag toddled into the kitchen and put the bag on the floor. Ace had told him the bag was too big for him, but then again Luffy did a lot of strange things but as his older brother he still adored the little trouble maker. The little boy was wearing the white t-shirt with the word ‘anchor’ written in blue thread and his treasured straw hat that was too big. Not wanting Ace to see that he had been crying while walking back he sat at the table with the hat covering his eyes…but it didn’t hide much of the evidence on his cheeks.

“Ace?” The older boy stopped putting things in the fridge and turned to the seven year old sitting at the table, he could clearly see tear streaks on his face... he was angry at the ones who had made them…

“Those guys back there…they called me a…” Luffy couldn’t finish the sentence before quieting and allowed his eyes to be covered by the rim of his hat again. Seeing the tears streaming down his face Ace forgot about the food and ran to his brother embracing him.

Flashback

Ace grinned as his younger brother raced around the street as they walked home from picking up some groceries at Makino’s. “Hey Luffy! Don’t run too far up ahead I have to keep an eye on you”

“Okay!” Luffy yelled back but continued to run around at the same pace. Ah well typical Luffy for you, but Ace had become more protective of his little brother since that whole thing with the Mountain Bandits kidnapping him and almost drowning in the sea. Ace could not express how glade he was to hear his brother was okay physically if not very shaken up and hysterical from the whole ordeal. The fact that Shanks had sacrificed his arm for Luffy had spoken volumes about the man. But since then Ace kept a much closer eye on Luffy then before. Speeding up his pace he had to laugh as Luffy began playing around with his new abilities given from the Gomu Gomu no Mi. Ace seriously thought it was pretty neat and wondered what kind of new attacks Luffy would come up with to use them in a fight. Luffy had started to become more vigilant in his training to get stronger for when he left the island and become Pirate King as he vowed he would do one day. Breaking from his thoughts he looked around and saw no signed of his brother, great how did he always manage to run off from his sight? Luffy might be small but he was a pretty fast runner when needed. Ace took off in the direction in which he last saw his brother heading and when he saw his brother he was not happy at the sight he saw. Luffy had been cornered by a trio of very familiar boys who always picked on the younger kids in the village and Luffy was always at the top of their list of bullying targets. Whatever those boys were planning to start Ace was certainly not going to allow it to begin and began walking towards them. As he did so he wasn’t happy with what he heard.

“Well, well if it isn’t Shanks little shadow” the older looking of the trio said giving a rather cruel smile.

“Go away” was Luffy’s reply, his grocery bag sitting on the ground and his hands grabbing the rim of his straw hat as if to protect it, which defiantly was the reason knowing Luffy.

“Take a look guys…the runts got Shanks hat!” the same boy said making a grab for Luffy’s straw hat, but the young boy moved out of reach but was able to grab the older boys arm.

“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY HAT! SHANKS GAVE IT TO ME AND IT’S MY TREASURE!” Ace was already prepared for Luffy’s little explosion over that, ever since being given the hat after making that promise to Shanks Luffy had become very protective of it. He didn’t allow ANYONE to touch it, only himself and Makino were allowed to touch it…their grandfather didn’t even know about it since Luffy hid it from him since their grandfather being a marine hated pirates. Luffy even slept with it in bed at night.

“Your treasure? Yeah right…that old thing is as much value as a grain of sand” the boy made a grab for the hat again and this time were able to grab it to Luffy’s horror before Luffy’s hot headedness kicked in.

“I SAID DON’T TOUCH MY HAT!” angry now that his treasured hat had been taken from him he threw a punch and his arm stretched…and his fist missed its intended target. The other two boys grab Luffy’s literally stretched out arm before letting it go, the force of the limb snapping back and knocking Luffy into the near by wall. Had Luffy’s body not been rubber he would have surely cracked open his skull. As the older boy was about to either throw the hat to the ground or hit his brother Ace grabbed his arm in a strong grip.

“Leave my brother alone…or you’ll regret it” Ace said sternly, as he did so he saw Luffy manage to run over to his side while the other two boys took off.

“Well, well…if it isn’t the older brother of our Villages local freak” the boy immediately found himself slammed against the wall and dropped Luffy’s precious hat in the process.

“Freak…” Luffy said his voice creaking making Ace wince at the pain he heard in it.

“What did you call my brother?” Ace asked the fellow ten year old “You listen here! Just because he’s different doesn’t make him or anyone else a freak you got that?” the scared boy nodded hard enough to possibly snap his neck and Ace dropped him “Bully my little brother again and you’ll have me to deal with” the boy nodded again and took off. Leaving the D brothers to simply pick up their things and after soothing Luffy a bit who had the start of tears in his eyes they left for the house.

End of Flashback

Ace knew full well that the day Luffy had eaten the Gomu Gomu no Mi Shanks had talked with Luffy about his new body. He had gotten Luffy comfortable with his new powers and for that Ace was grateful. Luffy needed a father figure at his age for at least some point and Ace was glade Shanks had delivered. Their grandfather could never fill that roll since Luffy feared him after the whole balloon incident and throwing him off a cliff. Sure a son would be scared of their father but not for the reasons Luffy was afraid of their grandfather. How Luffy managed to come out of those little training sessions with gramps alive Ace didn’t know. Ace himself could never fill that spot, he was Luffy’s older brother not a father figure, and older male role model perhaps but not a father figure. Shanks had told Luffy that he might be bullied for being different and had helped brace Luffy for when that moment would come. But still that hadn’t softened the blow of the event by much and Ace being the older brother would be damn sure to help Luffy heal in anyway he could. He couldn’t be a father figure but he would damn well be their as an older brother for him. While he and Luffy had had their own little talk regarding Luffy’s new powers Ace knew that something like this was going to come up. No planning or simply telling Luffy would shield the seven year old from the pain when the moment finally came. Ace knew that a lot of the villagers thought Luffy’s new abilities were cool and thought they were cute…but while that was the large majority of the adults, the kids who were Luffy’s age or older could be cruel when it came to someone who was different from them…in Luffy’s case very, very different.

“Shanks said I was special and that others would make fun of me for it but…”

“Shanks was absolutely right. You are special…if it’s even possible you’re even more special now” holding his brother closer Ace continued “There are jerks in the world Luffy…those jerks will make fun of you and insult you for being different.” He stroked his brother’s hair.

“Are you scared of me” Ace raised an eyebrow at this question, that was Luffy for you always full of surprises even when upset.

“Of course not, if I was scared of you I wouldn’t be hugging you right now would I? I wouldn’t be angry right now that those jerks got you so upset would I?” Ace asked picked his brother off the chair and sat on the floor, Luffy cradled in his lap and still had his arms wrapped around the seven year old. Luffy looked up at him and blinked and Ace could now see the damage the trio of jerks had done to his brother. He hated seeing his brother so upset, not just because he was baby brother but because it was so startling. Luffy was hyper, carefree, simple minded and cute. To see him upset and crying was heart wrenching.

“When Shanks talked to you about others making fun of you because of your powers what did he say?”

“People are scared of what’s different because they don’t understand it. And that my real friends won’t care if I’m different because everyone is different.”

“He was right about that too…” Ace laid his head on his brothers “I don’t care if your rubber now…I think its neat”

“Really? You think me being rubber is neat?” Luffy still sounded like he was crying but at the same time starting to calm down a little.

“Yes and just because I don’t understand how Devil Fruits work I wouldn’t bully you about it like those idiots did back there. Shanks defiantly thinks your rubber powers are neat too and he still sees you as a friend. Would he have done what he did for you…sacrifice an arm for you if he didn’t see you as a friend?” he felt Luffy shake his head. Ace really didn’t want to reopen that event in his brothers head again now that he had gotten over it, but Luffy needed to understand. He didn’t want to remember that day either, he had felt helpless unable to get to his brother who had been kidnapped and then brought out into the water. Makino had to hold him back from diving in to get to his brother, he was a good swimmer but he wasn’t good enough to get to where Luffy and that damned Mountain Bandit was. He had been at the house chopping wood when he had heard a bunch of commotion and some of Shanks crew had showed up at the house to tell him what had happened. He didn’t even bother to do anything when he heard that Luffy had been kidnapped other then race around to help in the search. Then someone spotted the little boat out in the sea…and while Makino held him back…he watched as Shanks dove into the water…

“Luffy you hear it from Shanks and now you’re hearing it from me…” Ace said pulling the younger boy away so he could look at him “There is no way you will ever be a freak or anything like that to me or anyone who is really your friend. And there is nothing that will ever make me think that way about you or be afraid of you. You’re my brother…I adore and love you…I’ve always have and always will adore and love you…don’t you ever forget that” even when the dam broke at that moment, the two sat. One looking as if protecting the precious bundle in his arms from the world, the other who was just starting to learn a very powerful life lesson. But as they sat there neither one spoke.

Nothing more needed to be said.

**Author's Note:**

> From watching how Chopper was treated on Drum Island while watching the Japanese versions of those episodes. I had to think how Ace would take anyone calling his brother a freak or monster and how Luffy would react to it. So here’s my version of what Ace would do.


End file.
